Sleep Easy By My Side
by MorsDelecti
Summary: Cordelia wakes from a night spent with Misty at her swamp shack...


_**A/N Another Foxxay oneshot, enjoy. (Title unimaginatively borrowed from Fleetwood Mac, as always, particularly Warm Ways).**_

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'Misty.'

Silence. Cordelia rolled under the blanket and swathed her face into the makeshift pillow beneath her head breathing in the earthy scent. The heavy weight above the blanket remained on her foot.

'Misty - get off.' She mumbled, voice distorted by a mouthful of pillow as she shoved at the weight with the bare foot that was not trapped so she could slip the deadening toes from underneath and recover her blood circulation. Still only silence. Slivers of sunlight fell upon her face through the cracks in the shutters of the shack.

Cordelia shoved with her free foot once more, managed to pull her other leg closer to her and massaged the deadened muscle with her hands as she muttered to herself. 'When did you get so heavy? Such a dead weight when you sleep…honestly…' A blur of moss green was all she saw when she opened her eyes just a little. That confused her sleep-addled mind. She could have sworn the swamp witch hadn't been wearing green the night before… 'Did you even get changed?' Massaging the vestiges of sleep from her eyelids, Cordelia brushed blonde hair from her face with a smile as her sight sought the swamp witch who had fallen asleep beside her.

She screamed.

As the sight of the alligator became clearer, much more distinguished and definitely not who or what the witch had been expecting in bed beside her, Cordelia nearly threw herself backwards to create as much distance between herself and the uninvited guest as possible. The blanket tangled around her slender legs as she wriggled in reverse and she yanked at the material, tried to wrap around herself in some futile defence. Common sense kicked at the back of her brain, told her she was perfectly capable of handling such a situation in a much more logical manner; she had magic, surely she could defend herself against a reptile. Alarm somehow convinced her otherwise. Not to mention the proximity of those jaws, those teeth, to her exposed toes.  
Drawn to the unexpected outburst of fear, the familiar loose curls of the swamp witch came into view at the door frame when Misty poked her head in the door. Her brow was furrowed with an amalgamation of concern and confusion until she spotted the curled up form of Cordelia on the edge of the bed. Cordelia's dark eyes met her own.

'Misty!' Relief was evident in the headmistress' tone. 'Do something!'

'What?' Misty asked, blatantly unsure just what was wrong with the image before her, which was not all that out of the ordinary, besides the woman who occupied her bed.

'It's going to eat me!' Cordelia exclaimed, jabbing a finger in the direction of the resting reptile.

'Don't be ridiculous,' Misty scoffed.

'Don't be ridiculous? There is an alligator in your house. There is an alligator on your bed. I was_ sleeping_ with an _alligator!_' The protestations of the older alchemist only served to make Misty smile. 'And I kicked it!' Cordelia added; a twinge of guilt arose in her when Misty's face fell into a frown.

'You kicked him? Why would you kick Mick?' Misty almost whined as she knelt by the beast and stroked a few fingertips across the scales as though he were more Alsatian than alligator.

'I thought it was you!' Cordelia defended, then backtracked. 'Wait, _him_?'

'I don't know which of us should be more insulted.' Seeing the swamp witch with her hands on her hips in a pose of indignation, looking her up and down with a narrowed glance would have almost seemed amusing had Cordelia herself not still been preoccupied.

'How did he even get in here?!' Such nonchalance only exasperated her.

'It's his home as much as mine, he lived here before I did.' Misty replied with a half-hearted shrug that nudged the shawl from her shoulder as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. 'Oh, and I left the door open.' She added lightly.

'And you didn't think to tell me before I fell asleep here that we might have some scaly guests wondering in and out as they please?'

'I suppose I coulda warned ya…' Again, a shrug. 'Not that he would have done anythin' too bad.'

'Too bad?' Disbelief danced in her dark eyes before they narrowed with uneasiness. 'Is this before or after I kicked him?'

'Well…' Misty began but Cordelia quickly threw up her hands in a gesture to stop.

'On second thought, please don't answer that.' The headmistress resolved.

'He may seem big an' mean, but he's a real softie underneath.' She continued to pet him while Cordelia nodded skeptically.

'I'm sure you'll still be saying that when I have an appendage missing.' Despite herself - and her albeit lessened trepidation - she found Misty was not the only one with a small smile on her face.


End file.
